A matter of extension

One will have to respectfully disagree with Supreme Court’s suspension of a decision by the Parliamentary Committee.


Editorial February 18, 2011

One would have to most respectfully disagree with the Supreme Court’s suspension of a decision by the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges to refuse one-year extensions to four judges of the Lahore High Court. The judicial commission, which is headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, had recommended an extension in the terms of four additional judges, but this was rejected by the parliamentary committee. The issue of appointing additional judges, on a fixed term, and then on granting them extensions, has been a controversial one for a number of years, well before Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry took charge as chief justice. However, it was the famed Judges Case of 1996 (Al-Jihad Trust vs Federation of Pakistan) which set a precedent that judges be appointed on the basis of seniority and that this principle was sacrosanct. It also laid down that, as far as possible, the government fill vacancies with permanent appointments and avoid posting judges in additional capacity since that could be interpreted as pressure on the judiciary by a government seeking to compromise the former’s independence. This is precisely why justices appointed to the US Supreme Court have a tenure that — barring ill health, proven moral turpitude or voluntary resignation — lasts for the rest of their life.

In addition to this, it is also worth pointing out that in recent days the apex court was seized with a case regarding appointments by the federal government of employees who had retired and who had been given extensions and were rehired on contract. The court, and rightly so, had directed the executive to act on this and rescind these contractual appointments since they, quite understandably, demoralised those officers who were waiting for promotion to the next level once their superiors retired from service. One would have to say, and with the utmost of respect, that a similar situation would seem to arise when judges who have already reached retirement age are given extensions.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2011.

COMMENTS (1)

Sadia Karim | 13 years ago | Reply Rules should be same for all.The respected judiciary cannot overlook the fact that they are looked up to in these times of tussle and turmoil.
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